Ctr Charles Garcia had 19 pts and 13 rebs, and SF Anthony Scott had 18 pts to lead #6 Riverside (13-4) to a 75-64 win over #7 Antelope Valley (13-5) Wednesday night in Lancaster.
After the game was tied, 3-3, early on, Riverside went on an 8-0 spurt early on to take an 11-3 lead. The Tigers pushed the lead to as much as 16 points late in the first half and led by 15 at the break, 40-25.
Early in the second half, Antelope Valley cut the lead to 10, but after a thunderous jam by Garcia on an alley-oop pass from PG James Simmons, Riverside had its 16-point lead back at 46-30.
However, a few minutes later, PG Jovan McIver came off the bench and sparked an AVC rally with a pair of 3-pointers. Then SG Robert (Reggie) Arnold knocked down a jumper to cut the margin to 8 at 48-40 with 14 minutes left, and Ctr Jerome Moten scored on a putback to cut the Riverside lead to 6 at 48-42 with just under 13 minutes left. The lead shrunk to 5 after a free throw by SF Durrell Norman made it 52-47 with 11:04 remaining, and a basket by PF Hassan Stephens on backdoor lay-up on a nice dish from Ctr Mahamoud Diakite made it 54-50.
Riverside maintained that lead, despite Garcia being called for a technical foul after being whistled for travelling (his 10th turnover - and in fairness, he was pushed, which caused the travel) with 6:43 remaining. He left the game, and as the clock neared the five-minute mark, the Tigers continued to cling to a 4-point lead at 62-58.
Then Garcia re-entered the game, and almost immediately Riverside pulled away for the win. A three by Scott made it 65-58, and a pair of free throws by Garcia made it 67-58 with 3:55 left. Then SF David Norris scored on a feed from PG Chris De Los Santos to push the margin back to double digits at 69-58 with just under 3 minutes left. A free throw by Norris after a rebound made it 70-58 with 2:18 remaining, and a final loud jam by Garcia with 1:55 left made it 72-58 and clinched the win for Riverside.
The 6-11 Garcia led the way for Riverside with 19 pts, 13 rebs, 3 blocks and 3 steals, though he also had a triple-double of sorts with 10 turnovers. Scott's 18 pts included 4 threes. Norris came off the bench to add 11 pts and 4 rebs. SG Anthony Dandy had a solid game with 9 pts, 5 rebs, 4 asts and 2 steals. And Simmons came off the bench to dish out a game-high 8 asts.
For AVC, Arnold had 13 pts, 6 rebs, 4 asts and 2 steals. Moten came off the bench to score 12 pts and grab 5 rebs, and McIver came off the bench to knock down 4 threes for 12 pts. But AVC shot just 25% with 12 turnovers in the first half, and were never quite able to dig their way out of that hole.
The win gains a measure of revenge for Riverside, which dropped a 61-59 decision to AVC twelve days ago in the championship game of the Wells Fargo tournament at Riverside.
box score
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - 7 pm
at Marauder Gym, Lancaster
Riverside Tigers 75:
1-Keiran Nunley, PF - 2/3 fg, 2/3 ft, 1 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
11-Chris De Los Santos, PG - 0/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 pt
15-Charles Garcia, C - 7/11 fg, 4/4 ft, 13 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 3 stl, 3 pf, 19 pts
20-Anthony Dandy, SG - 4/11 fg, 0/1 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 2 slt, 3 pf, 9 pts
32-Anthony Scott, SF - 6/14 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 18 pts
3-James Simmons, G - 1/2 fg, 3 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
55-Stephen Colvin, C - 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 pf, 0 pts
0-Wayne Robinson, F - 1/5 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
22-David Norris, F - 4/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 11 pts
14-Nik Bradford, F - 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
21-Andrew Jenkins, F - 3/4 fg, 1/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 blk, 3 pf, 7 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 28/58 fg (.483), 13/22 ft (.591), 36 reb, 22 ast, 6 blk, 9 stl, 21 pf, 75 pts
3-pt fg (6): Scott 4, Garcia, Dandy
Technical Foul: Garcia
Turnovers (20): Garcia 10, Simmons 3, Robinson 2, Nunley, De Los Santos, Dandy, Bradford, Jenkins
Antelope Valley Marauders 64:
1-Durrell Norman, SF - 1/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 4 pts
12-Jacobe Shannon, PG - 1/3 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 3 pts
21-Robert Arnold, SG - 4/13 fg, 3/8 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 13 pts
22-JaVaughn Espritt, PF - 2/6 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 2 stl, 4 pf, 7 pts
32-Mahamoud Diakite, C - 0/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 pts
11-Raymond Cody, F - 2/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
34-Jerome Moten, C - 2/5 fg, 8/10 ft, 5 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
10-Jovan McIver, G - 4/9 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
5-Jason West, F - 1/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 3 pts
2-Chevy Wade, G - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
20-Hassan Stephens, F - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 2 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 18/48 fg (.375), 21/30 ft (.700), 32 reb, 9 ast, 1 blk, 8 stl, 21 pf, 64 pts
3-pt fg (7): McIver 4, Arnold 2, Shannon
Turnovers (21): Shannon 6, Espritt 4, McIver 3, Arnold 2, Diakite 2, Norman, Cody, West, Stephens
Halftime Score: Riverside 40, Antelope Valley 25
Updated Records: Riverside (#6-South, #11-Calif) 13-4, Antelope Valley (#7-South, #12-Calif) 13-5
RCC led by 16 late in the 1st and early in the 2nd half. AVC closed it to 4 pts at 54-50 and it was still 4 pts at 62-58 before RCC went on a 10-0 run to put the game away
